


Paradox Man

by reaperlight



Category: Cthulhu Mythos - Fandom, Death Note & Related Fandoms, Venom (Movie 2018)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Time Travel, Angst, Do-Over, Don't repost, M/M, Pining, Post-Apocalypse, Saving the World, Symbiotic Relationship, Time Travel Fix-It, do not copy to another site
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-12-31
Updated: 2020-03-27
Packaged: 2021-02-27 04:47:18
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 10,100
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22051282
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/reaperlight/pseuds/reaperlight
Summary: “You must stop the End, Ryuk,” The Shinigami King decreed in his booming voice that made Nu wince. “You’ve been given leave to protect this human of yours at all costs. This... Light Yagami.”
Relationships: L/Ryuk/Yagami Light, L/Yagami Light, Ryuk/Yagami Light
Comments: 28
Kudos: 296





	1. As I Live In The Black

**Author's Note:**

  * For [ZombieJesus](https://archiveofourown.org/users/ZombieJesus/gifts), [exAm](https://archiveofourown.org/users/exAm/gifts).
  * Inspired by [Obsolete](https://archiveofourown.org/works/20519738) by [ZombieJesus](https://archiveofourown.org/users/ZombieJesus/pseuds/ZombieJesus). 



**“…Very well, Ryuk,”** Nu declared in her soft-spoken yet terrifying voice, **“You are now stripped of your status as a Shinigami.”**

**“Thank you,”** Ryuk croaked. 

Anything that befell him now—it was a mercy, a brief reprieve from the boredom. 

Nothing had ever been the same without… 

Ryuk was surprised when he was suddenly released from his chains and permitted to stand.

 **“You _must_ stop the End, Ryuk,”** The Shinigami King decreed in his booming voice that made Nu wince. **“You’ve been given leave to protect this human of yours at all costs. This... Light Yagami.”**

 ** _“Wha…?”_**

The now ex-Shinigami gaped at Nu and the King in shocked disbelief at this turn of his luck. 

He hadn’t actually thought anyone had been really listening when he rambled on about his favorite subject to keep himself occupied as he was confined to “naughty Shinigami jail” awaiting his day before the tribunal. 

(He’d been _bored._ And some Shinigami just couldn’t take a joke...) 

**“Oh, you won’t regret this, your eyeball-ness! I mean your highness, I mean… er… _Okay!_ ”**

**“…Oh and Ryuk? _Do not fail us._ ”** The King hissed and Ryuk shuddered, recognizing it as the threat it was. 

He didn’t know what would happen if he failed but he would rather not find out. 

Of course if he failed there might not be a realm to punish him so either way… 

But in any case, this wasn’t a disagreeable thing, what he was being asked to do. So… he would do as they commanded—not out of any love for the King or because he cared about what happened to the Shinigami Realm at all—it could all crumble to dust as far as he was concerned—but because there was nowhere in all of reality he would rather be exiled to then... 

_**I’m coming, Light-o.** _

***

So this was his life now—another soulless hotel room.

Most of the taskforce sprawled out on the uncomfortable sofa and chairs around him—either passed out or looked about to be; either from exhaustion from the work they’d suddenly had to put in on this New Year’s Eve or overindulgence in alcohol from before their New Year’s Eve office party had been rudely interrupted by this latest turn of events. 

Shit, what time was it? They had gotten so busy working, the New Year might have already passed without them ringing it in.

Near’s people had kidnapped Misa and Mogi on the way to the pop music festival that evening (last night?) and that had kind of thrown a damper on any further activities—not that it was particularly festive to begin with. 

Nothing had been very happy since his father...

And then they’d all worked late, trying to track down likely locations of where Mogi and Misa might possibly have been taken.

Matsuda was quite distraught. 

Light was concerned too, mainly about what Mogi might tell Near but it was becoming difficult to keep up his façade in the face of Matsuda’s genuine show of over-emotion.

Light excused himself, retreating to his bedroom by telling the taskforce he wasn’t feeling well. It was only a half-lie. The alcohol had put him in kind of a funny head place—he was a bit tipsy from the champagne and he blamed it for his maudlin mood. 

This was the first New Year's he wouldn’t be celebrating with either his sister or his father. 

Buried regrets pounded at the doors of his consciousness. 

He’d sacrificed so much for his cause and the biggest irony of it all was he did it all for them—to keep his family safe, to keep families like his own safe… 

_It might be selfish, but I did it for them. I wanted to make the world safer for them. And now… I can’t stop. Even though… because so many other families, like them… they rely on me, on Kira. If I’d known what I know now… But none of that matters now. I can’t change the past. I can only look forward._

Light perked up slightly at the thought that he would be crushing Near soon enough and reveling in his ultimate victory. Besides, he shouldn’t be having doubts. It… (Light laughed) it wasn’t like him. Not when Near had so perfectly fallen into his trap.

His victory was all but assured… 

Light felt a smirk spread across his face as a familiar shadow fell across his bedroom. 

It seemed Ryuk had finally come back from site seeing. 

Light turned to toss Ryuk an apple but froze when he really _looked_ at his demonic companion. 

“ _Ryuk?_ What the hell happened to you?!” 

Ryuk seemed older somehow, more worn, and he was missing an eye. 

Ryuk let out an audible gasp upon seeing Light again. 

It really was him! 

Not a spell, or an illusion, or a hallucination. It was Light, in the flesh—living and breathing with a beating heart and a healthy lifespan and… _so very alone._ (Ryuk could relate.) But that was the story of Light's final years, wasn’t it? He may have won in his battle with L but his spark, his zest for life, that all seemed to die with that damn detective and this persistent melancholy would follow him to the grave. 

But, Ryuk thought with relief, at least he’d managed to catch Light when he didn’t seem busy. That at least should make this easier...

Ryuk swore under his breath when he got a rough idea of _when_ he was. It would have been far easier to convince Light that he was in trouble if Nu had sent him back to that accursed Warehouse rather than on the eve of his “assured victory.”

Light had asked for his help then. 

Ryuk couldn’t give it. 

He’d long regretted it. 

But by then, Ryuk supposed, that would probably already have been too late. 

It was something that had nagged at him for centuries afterwards—Near had confessed to him once in clear amusement that he’d cheated and Ryuk had long wracked his brains to figure out how. Maybe Matsuda had been onto something when he’d suggested Near had written Light’s name so he would confess. The only problem with that was that Ryuk had gotten Light’s years—and all the years that Light had absorbed but couldn’t use when he killed with the Death Note. It’s what had sustained him while he sulked and refused to ever write another name.

Perhaps Near had written “Killed by a Shinigami” as a cause of Death? 

Was that possible? 

**“Ah… long story. I…”** Ryuk felt the hollow, bottomless pit of his stomach drop as he realized that really the hardest part was where to even begin… **“I… oh shit. And I only have one shot to help you?!”**

He was going to screw this up, he just knew it. 

That’s what he did. He failed as a Shinigami, he’d screwed up in the Shinigami Realm, and he’d screwed up Light’s life just by knowing him...

Light felt his brows raise at this perplexing turn of events. 

“…Help me?” 

**“Oh , _dammit! There’s no time! Why in Death’s name would they send me back here when_ — uggh!”**

“Ryuk? Uh… maybe start from the beginning?” 

Ryuk laughed at that, but Light recognized it was different from his usual cackling—it sounded _pained_ as well as more than a bit maniacal. 

**“Kinda hard to do that Light-o. Unless you count way back to me dropping the notebook for ya… but, my beginning hasn’t happened yet. It comes after…”**

“Wait, so… you’re from the future…” Light deduced aloud and then gaped at Ryuk’s surprised nod. 

**“Yeah,”** Ryuk rasped, clearly impressed that Light figured it out so quickly. **“Ya got it in one."**

Light was further perplexed by the fond, wistful look his Shinigami was giving him. 

**“Light… you always were the smartest person I ever knew. In any world.”** Ryuk confessed. 

“Well…” Light coughed awkwardly, completely taken off-guard by this strange turn of events. _“Of course.”_

Ryuk barked out another laugh. 

Light still gaped at his Shinigami in amazement. It had seemed so far-fetched even when he said it but… “Holy shit. I’m right, aren’t I? You’re really from the future?!” 

The gears of Light’s mind were already turning over the possibilities—so now he had a window into the future. Just how many apples would it take to get Ryuk to spill the details of some of what he’d seen? 

**“Yes. And uh… Light, uh… you really need to know…”**

Light felt his lips parting in shock when Ryuk began offering up information for free. 

_Just what’s going on here? What happened to you, Ryuk?_

**“You need to know that Mikami screwed up. Or… screws up? Shit, this is confusing… Just, the SPK’s got the real notebook and Near… he isn’t like _your_ L. He doesn’t play fair, and he’s gonna write your name in the Death Note to make you confess. Shit, he could be doing it right now—”**

Light swallowed when Ryuk foretold his downfall. “I lose… that’s why… but you want to help me?” 

Light couldn’t stop the hopeful note that crept into his voice. 

The idea would have seemed laughable just this morning but… something had clearly happened to Ryuk… 

**“Yes.”**

…Something that changed things completely. 

“And… what’s the cost?” 

**“I don’t know.”**

“You don’t—?” 

**”I just know that I pay for this more than you do. I will be bound to serve you for the rest of your life and if you die, I die.”**

Light gasped when he saw that Ryuk was sincere and looked at his Shinigami with new eyes. “And you’d… you’d do that? _For me?_ ” 

**“Of course,”** Ryuk insisted without hesitation. 

“And that’s… that’s what you want?” 

**“Yes, oh _God,_ Light I… _I missed you so much._ I—I am _so sorry._ ”**

Light didn’t know why Ryuk was apologizing but if he was from a future where he lost… well, he could guess. 

_But that doesn’t matter. He’s going to help me now._

Maybe it was the alcohol or the fact he was already emotionally raw but Light willingly went into Ryuk’s embrace. 

“Ryuk… you won’t regret this! I… I’ll prove myself worthy of your power, I promise.” 

**“Don’t worry, Light,”** Ryuk rasped brokenly as he dared to gently touch this human, ever-mindful of his strength and claws. (Ryuk was glad to lend Light his strength now. Humans were too damn fragile.) **“You already have.”**

Light swallowed. “Alright, just… what do we need to...?” 

**“Just… I guess, just take my hand?”**

“Like this?” Light asked as he grasped Ryuk’s offered talons. He took a moment to marvel at how his own hand seemed comically small when entwined with that of the Shinigami's. 

**“Yes. And Light? …Thank you.”**

“For what?” 

**“For trusting me.”**

“So… what happens now?" Light asked, swallowing his nerves and trying to seem nonchalant about the whole thing despite how ominous Ryuk's words seemed just then. 

Right. New Year, new powers... 

Light giggled aloud at that and Ryuk gave him a concerned look. 

Huh, maybe he was more drunk than he thought. 

Oh well, he was reasonably sure that Ryuk swearing fealty to him and making sure he didn't die was a good thing and that sober him would thank him for accepting Ryuk's generous gift. 

And... he just had a gut feeling--that this was as it should be. Regardless of what happened here Light got the feeling this would be a new start for both of them. 

_Who would have ever thought that Ryuk would be the one to--_

And he hadn't even been a very good friend to him, too caught up in his own plans and his own drama to pay much attention to his companion... 

"Thank you for this, Ryuk," Light spoke softly as he smiled down at their joined hands. "I resolve to do better next year." 

**“Er… I don’t really know what happens next,"** Ryuk admitted after they'd been standing there awkwardly for a minute. 

Light felt a tick beginning to form in his forehead. _“You don’t…”_

**"The King--"** Ryuk began to explain when there was a sudden flash of light and then they were elsewhere or perhaps, more appropriately, _elsewhen_ as they were both exorcised from the timeline. 


	2. The Past Could Come Take It Back

Light blinked and the night, Ryuk, and the hotel room seemed to dissolve around him. 

Now he was standing outside, in the grass. It was a sunny day, he could hear some distant birdsong and… he realized with a jolt that he was back at his old high school and he held the Death Note in his hands, right out in the open—Light gasped as the Death Note dissolved into shadow, absorbed into a strange inky blackness that danced across the skin of his hands. 

“What the hell?! _My notebook—!_ ” 

How was he expected to do _anything_ without the Note? 

**_Don’t worry, it’s here. We’ve got it._**

_“Ryuk!”_ Light almost sagged with relief when he heard his Shinigami’s voice even if it had picked up kind of an odd, otherworldly, reverberating quality to it. The familiarity of it was a comfort when his reality had been so uprooted. 

“Ryuk?” Light glanced around awkwardly, cringing when he felt a mild headache coming on. The world seemed to flash red out of one eye and… Light almost failed to contain his reactions when he saw the names and a series of numbers floating above the heads of his classmates. 

“What the hell… Ryuk… where are you?” Light hissed, already dreading the answer. Because he never made the deal, never asked for the eyes, and it soon became apparent that that red tinge was only visible out of _one_ eye—

 ** _Uh… Oh boy, this is awkward. I swear I didn’t know this was what the King had in mind when he said I would be bound to protect you._**

Light gasped as black wisps resembling claws appeared in his hand, the hand he’d held Ryuk’s hand in, before disappearing again beneath his skin. 

“You’re… that’s you? You’re inside me?!” He nearly shrieked. 

Ryuk cringed, **_Uh… keep it down, will ya, Light? Remember where and WHEN we are. Hyuk, hyuk._**

It really went to show how rattled Light was that he’d forgotten that.

“I… you’re right, we should take this somewhere more private.” 

Ryuk gasped as he felt a shiver, like treading on his own grave, and realized it was the _other him_ —the Ryuk from this timeline—collapsing and being absorbed into their being. It seemed there wouldn’t be two Ryuks or two Lights running around—they’d merged with or replaced their past selves as well as being bound together. Ryuk winced as he felt Light’s discomfort. 

Light worked to control his breathing as he strode quickly from the patch of grass where the notebook once had been. “…Okay. _Okay…_ ”

 ** _…You’re taking this rather well._**

“Well, I can’t very well freak out while we’re in public, now can I?” Light hissed under his breath. “Not without drawing needless attention to myself…” 

**_…Ourself? Uh… You don’t have to speak out loud for me to hear you anymore. I… I can hear your thoughts._ **

“Well, that… that’s kinda creepy. But convenient, at least. Okay…” _Okay. We’re alive, we’re here. We’ll figure all this out—_

**_Light, I’m so sorry. I swear I didn’t know this would happen. I was just given one chance to save you and only if you let me—”_ **

_I know. You saved my life. It’s just… well, we’re in the past. And you’re inside me—_

**_I… I know, I… When the King said I was to be your protection, your armor, I didn’t think he meant it quite this LITERALLY._ **

_I… It’s really okay, Ryuk,_ Light insisted. He knew the Shinigami… (ex-Shinigami?) was sincere. He _felt_ Ryuk’s remorse, his caring, his concern, his… (Light gasped at the intensity of the emotions.) No… surely, he was imagining _that._ And he couldn’t focus on Ryuk right now—he was trying to figure himself out. Part of him was the same Light he’d been these past five years but he was also that seventeen year old self he’d just merged with that had just been having another boring day at school and—  
Light swallowed down hot bile as he felt those two selves beginning to integrate. 

**_Is it?_** Ryuk asked, because he could _feel_ that Light was at least low-key panicking. 

_I mean, we’ll figure this out,_ he thought back, trying to project more confident than he currently felt and nearly sprinted from the school as if he could outrun what he felt was coming... 

Ryuk felt disgusted with himself even as he made himself perfectly at home beneath Light’s skin. He hadn’t meant to deceive Light, he would never have asked this of him if he knew this was what the King had meant and… and as he sorted through past him’s more recent memories—he really hadn’t cared about anything back then other than having a good time. He didn’t yet see the beauty of this world, or of this human… 

Ryuk was abruptly brought out of his self-loathing thoughts when Light staggered into an alley by the school to wretch into a dumpster. 

**_Light?_**

“…Don’t worry about it, Ryuk. I’m probably just hung over,” Light lied, even though they both knew that wasn’t the cause. 

Ryuk was pretty sure Light left his blood alcohol content back in the other timeline. 

Ryuk belatedly realized that while he had been having his identity crisis Light had been having one of his own—a much more severe one from the direction of his thoughts. 

Ryuk came to understand with growing horror that the Light that he knew and the one they’d just merged with were like two jigsaw pieces that no longer really fit together but had been jammed together regardless of consequence and the result was absolutely _devastating_ on his human’s psyche—there was his Light, who had been Kira for six years and had made good use of the Note’s infinite pages… slammed into his past self who had never killed before. 

**_Light!_** Ryuk gently coiled tendrils of inky darkness around his human in an attempt at comfort and hoped that Light understood his intent. 

A memory was pushed his way through the jumble of horror on Light’s end over all that he’d done, _would do,_ and Ryuk understood—Light had had a reaction like this before when he’d given up and then regained his memories—Ryuk quickly silenced the primal, horrified scream before it escaped Light’s throat so that he wouldn’t get noticed (and arrested) before they’d even begun… 

**_I’m so sorry. Light—_** Ryuk threw open his own thoughts then, momentarily dissolved any mental barriers between them, in an attempt to protect his human from himself but Ryuk feared that he wasn’t doing a very good job. This was like trying to operate with a sledgehammer. 

Ryuk pulled on two thoughts that had protected his human’s psyche throughout the years from the consequences of what he’d done. 

That he was _Chosen_ and that he was _God_.

 ** _God. Yes, you ARE a God. We both are now. I share this with you. That is our purpose. Your purpose, now. You were Chosen—because I chose you._**  
Ryuk rumbled again and again into the broken psyche until he believed it again, pouring in his desire to help Light, to heal him, to protect him— 

_“Ryuk…”_ Light rasped out, momentarily overwhelmed by the waves of love and devotion coming from the other consciousness. “You—” _That’s how you really feel about me?_

Ryuk felt profound relief when Light seemed to finally come back to himself. And yet he still felt very fragile. 

_**Yes.** _

“Even though I’m—” Light barked out a mad laugh. “What the hell! It’s because I’m… _that?_ That’s why I was chosen to save humanity from itself?! Do I have that right? But, I suppose you don’t care about that, do you? You’re a God of Death—” 

**_Not really, not anymore. I… I don’t know what I am now, Light. But… I care that it bothers you._**

“You do…” Light whispered as he unthinkingly stroked Ryuk’s tendrils for comfort. “Oh, and I am now a _we_? I… I’m sorry, Ryuk. It’s just… it’s a lot to process.” Light swallowed thickly. “And my dad… my sister…” 

**_They’re okay here, in this time and place,_** Ryuk soothed, **_None of that’s happened yet._**

_“Yet.”_

**_Light…_** Ryuk began tentatively, **_You know... we don’t have to do any of that… if you don’t want to. You can just think of it as a bad dream if you like._**

Light again gently stroked the inky tendrils that had instinctively coiled around his arms in alarm upon feeling Light’s distress. He was clearly taking comfort in and feeling grounded by their presence—which Ryuk took as a good sign. 

“Y-yeah. But… wouldn’t you be bored?”

 ** _Light… you could never bore me,_** Ryuk sent him a cozy image of what he imagined Light might look like if he ever reached an advanced age, old and infirm and reading by a fireplace. 

“You’d really stay with me? Even if…” 

**_Always._**

Despite his best efforts to remain stoical, Light felt himself tearing up. 

Damn, this day was really screwing with him. 

Hell, could this even be counted as the same day since they’d apparently traveled through time? 

Light allowed himself to get lost for a moment in the thoughts, memories, and emotions coming from the other consciousness so he didn’t have to think about how his own psyche was trying to tear him apart. Again getting lost in the other being’s concern, his adoration… 

Light’s eyes snapped open in realization. 

…his _love_ for him. 

_Ryuk loved him._

There was no denying it. The way they were connected, there could no longer be any secrets between them. 

_“Ryuk…”_ Light whispered; feeling so completely overwhelmed by the waves of love and devotion coming from the other consciousness that now shared his headspace that he had to stop and catch his breath. 

Ryuk _loved him._ An immortal, timeless being loved _him._

Ryuk had mourned him for _centuries_ after his death and had loved him enough to find him across time and space, to trample on the Shinigami’s own rules _just for him_ , so he could live again, get a second chance… 

“I won’t forget this,” he finished lamely because what did he have to offer in return? The broken, wretched shell of a man that he was. All he had left was his failed dream and…

 ** _Stop that,_** Ryuk growled. Light had always seemed so confident in their first life together. Before this, he would never have guessed just how many insecurities he had wrestled with every day… 

Knowing this now, it just made his respect and admiration for his human grow. 

“But you… I’m not…” 

**_Of course you are worthy,_** Ryuk rumbled in disbelief at the sickly turn of Light’s thoughts. As if he’d throw away his unlife and Shinigami status for an unworthy human. Ryuk thought it unlike Light to be so down on himself. He’d seemed okay after the initial rough contact with his past-self, but then maybe he was more shaken by the news of his future defeat than Ryuk had previously realized...

Light shuddered—he’d always found Ryuk’s deep voice soothing but now, with their new situation, their bodies literally intertwined so intimately… hearing that deep voice so close, as if spoken right in his ear…

Light swallowed. This could get very awkward. 

Hell, this _was_ very awkward. 

His demonic companion of many years was now living inside of him—there was probably something wrong with him that he wasn’t freaking out more. It just… didn’t really feel that way. Light knew it should have been awkward, but somehow it wasn’t. It felt natural, it felt… _good_ , though Light was still becoming accustomed to the strange, good vibrations of having Ryuk inside of him. When the former Shinigami spoke in his head Light heard it as a rumbling purr, it was as if he was working to etch his words on his very bones. **_You are mine._**

Light blushed, but didn’t dispute the claim, feeling quite overwhelmed by another wave of that unconditional love being sent his way. 

**_I am yours._**

Light gasped as tendrils flowed out of his back and torso again to wrap around himself, squeezing lightly— _hugging him,_ Light realized. 

**_Screw what anyone else thinks! You will always be worthy to me._**

“Ryuk…” Light gasped, feeling raw at the onslaught of praise and unconditional love, “Ryuk… even if there are other things I may come to regret… I won’t _ever_ regret this. Meeting you…” 

Light felt his face warming as claws manifested in his palm and gently intertwined between his fingers. 

**_Uh… Light, I uh really hate to mention this when you’ve just been ill but we’re really hungry… I think we should probably eat something._ **

“Right…” Light laughed, somewhat brokenly, “Let’s get you some apples.” 

**_Make sure to get something for you too,_** Ryuk insisted, unable to mask his worry.


	3. So I Could Start It All Over

Light casually glanced around at the people wandering by between cautious bites from his bento. Ryuk had already had his fill from a basket full of apples, manifesting a serpentine head out of Light’s body to devour them all. They’d also discovered that Ryuk was visible now when he manifested outside of Light’s body, much to their collective dismay when they realized they’d been seen by a wide-eyed toddler who’d wandered away from his family to stare at them. Fortunately, the kid was only believed to be in possession of a very active imagination when he began babbling about Godzilla liking apples.

 ** _I look nothing like Godzilla,_** Ryuk sulked. 

_…We were lucky that time. We must be more careful in the future._

**_Yeah, I know…_**

Light could feel that Ryuk was serious about being more careful so allowed himself to relax and resume his people watching to avoid thinking about things for the moment—a lot had happened, _would happen_ and Light supposed on some level he was still processing it all. 

He’d discovered an interesting distraction, on occasionally he’d give into the temptation to wink and see that world through that filter of red (regardless of how weird it must look). 

The novelty had yet to wear off so now he was amusing himself again by reading the names of passing humans. It seemed one positive out of all this is he now had the Shinigami’s sight out of his left eye, Ryuk’s good eye, and he hadn’t even had to give up his life for it—at least not in the traditional sense—maybe being thrown back in time to high school counted for something. 

Light wondered what happened to Ryuk’s right eye but hadn’t asked. It seemed rude to pry. 

A memory came up unbidden.

A memory that was not his own though Light experienced it as if it were his own. 

_“I bet that human of yours wasn’t even that great…”_

Light felt a flash of rage and loss so profound it almost made him sick again but the memory continued and Light saw it, first hand, saw Ryuk’s desolate grey world through his eyes and the mocking of some rude, ugly thing that was of little consequence except that it dared to mock his human… dared to mock _Light—_

What followed was a vicious storm of punching and clawing—his fangs, _Ryuk’s fangs,_ sunk into rotted flesh as he bit down until his mouth was no longer wet with the other Shinigami’s inky blood—Ryuk had got a mouthful of sand as the other God dissolved to dust beneath him. 

Evidently Shinigami _could_ kill other Shinigami if they were mad enough. 

Maybe that wouldn’t have been such a big deal back in times before the human world burned but now that there were so few Shinigami left—the tribunal had not been pleased especially in light of his other recent troublemaking. 

Nu had taken his eye in punishment and added it to her collection. 

_“Ryuk…”_ Light gasped, at a loss for what to say, what to feel, momentarily overwhelmed by his companion’s display of loyalty years after… 

Ryuk chuckled, **“Hey… uh. Don’t worry about it,”** he insisted. **“It’s just corpses under the bridge or however that human saying goes.”**

Light gave a startled laugh at that. 

“Yeah, uh… I suppose it is,” Light muttered softly before noticing the time on his watch. 

Damn. He had to be getting home—he had a schedule to keep and had to get home before his mother worried…

Light groaned aloud when it truly hit him that he was a high school student again. 

_I don’t understand, Ryuk? Why did your King send us back here? Does he expect us to live it out the same way all over again?_

For all the setbacks he’d encountered, his plan had seemed to be working back in his original timeline—but if Ryuk’s memories of the future were accurate… What was the point of anything if it was all undone upon his death? 

**_We aren’t going to just do the same thing over again, are we?_**

“But… what else am I supposed to do?” 

So connected with his human, Ryuk saw him as he never had before—it wasn’t just ego or God Complex that compelled him (though there was plenty of that) but... 

**_…You don’t have to keep punishing yourself, Light._**

Light made a pained sound. 

He was actually shaken enough by the knowledge of his future defeat that he actually considered it, what his life might be like without… 

No Kira, no crime free utopia, no mind games with L, just a stretch of boredom for as long as he remained alive. 

He would have his life but not much else…

Well maybe not _as_ boring as it would have been. He had Ryuk… that complicated things but Light found he wasn’t exactly adverse to that now that he truly remembered the boredom he’d felt before. 

He felt like he was now at a crossroads—there were two set paths before him—accepting his destiny as Kira (even if that way meant his ruin) or what he might have been… The latter was an unknown path, but not. He knew what he was _meant_ to do—it was his father’s way. He was supposed to maintain the status quo, go to school, join the NPA, marry some girl his parents approved of, start a family, become the Chief one day.

Never see true justice met, be woefully ineffective, watch criminals walk free, fail the victims and their families and… 

And worse, it would be tediously boring. 

Light knew that was the sort of life he was supposed to want but it did not appeal to him at all. 

But then again neither did getting caught and dying. 

Neither option seemed particularly appealing to him now but he knew he’d soon need to make a choice. 

Light frowned to himself as he absent-mindedly rubbed at where Ryuk’s tendrils coiled beneath the sleeve of his school uniform. They were surprisingly cold and smooth and he rather enjoyed the tactile sensation of brushing his thumb against them. 

He could forget about Kira, pretend his future was a bad dream as Ryuk had suggested, but that was the easy way out and to do so would mean he’d have little to no chance of stopping this coming apocalypse.

And in any case how the hell was he supposed to do that, even as Kira? 

(But what if Kira…?) 

_Dammit_ , he didn’t have enough information yet to make a choice. 

But he knew he needed to choose soon or the choice would be made for him. 

**_Light, I… I’m so sorry. You have me… for all that’s worth._**

“It’s worth a lot,” Light assured, smiling slightly as the tentacles coiled gently round his wrist. “This is just… annoying, to say the least. High school was boring enough the first time. But I am grateful to you for saving my life.” 

**_Light… you don’t have to do this…_ **

Light made a pained noise and squeezed his eyes shut. 

And Ryuk knew then what choice he would make. It was inevitable. 

“No, the thing is… I _do_ have to do this. We were sent back for a reason. And as confident as you are in me I sincerely doubt I could bring the world to heel without the Death Note… without Kira. If we want to stop whatever's coming... I _have_ to do this.” 

**_“Light, the whole apocalypse thing, that’s the reason I gave them and the one they gave me but… I think they were just glad to be rid of me, to be perfectly honest. So… don’t feel you have to just because…”_ **

“…Just because you and the Shinigami King chose me to save the world?” Light asked sardonically. “I could do as you suggest, I could pretend it was all just a dream but… _I_ would know, wouldn’t I? And what was it all for then, if I don’t do this? If I don’t keep going—?” 

_Light…_ Ryuk gasped, he had never realized his human was so damaged. The Shinigami had realized that Light wasn’t exactly normal as far as humans go but in his new form he saw the breaks in his neural pathways and having merged with his past self Ryuk could now see how they should be healed and carefully went about balancing chemicals and soothing the damaged neural pathways. 

“What are you doing to me?” 

Light looked drunk as he leaned against a nearby building, groaning softly. His eyes rolled back in pleasure. 

**_I-I don’t... Are you alright? Uh, it’s… instinctual. I’m just… trying to heal what’s broken here. Should I stop?_ **

“No,” Light hissed, momentarily overwhelmed by the burst of happy chemicals. “Don’t stop. God, Ryuk. You must be fun at parties.” 

**_Uh… thanks? I think?_**

Light let out a laugh that sounded and felt genuinely happy. 

Ryuk hoped that meant there was no harm done. 

“So, you were healing me? You can do that?” 

**_We share a body now and I—I never realized… you’ve been hurting yourself._**

Had he? Was he?

He might have been a bit… twisted up inside but this; surely it was natural to feel _something_ even if the people he killed had it coming? Just what did he mean that he was hurting himself? Sure, things got tough sometimes but it was a sacrifice he’d been willing to make… 

Light froze in horror. 

Was he trying to take Kira away? 

_No… You can’t!_

It was the core of his being, his purpose for living. His ideals were what kept him going. It was who he was—

“Ryuk, _don’t take it away!_ ” 

**_I’m not. I won’t,_** he insisted. 

Ryuk didn’t. 

But Light did feel better for some reason. 

Lighter. 

Less crushed under the weight of his burden of purpose and the deaths of all the people he had yet to kill… 

“Uh, Ryuk, do _you_ even know what you just did?”

 ** _…No… I uh, I have no idea how to explain. I just… I use my body to make chemicals to fix what seems to be broken here? Like I said, it’s instinctual…_**

Light massaged his forehead. “Okay… So maybe next time we should try talking things out first before we resort to experimenting with what I presume are… Shinigami drugs?” 

**_Just talking? That helps?_ **

“Yeah, I mean, that’s basically therapy, right? Just… talking about stuff? Just… please don’t do that without my permission again. You could accidentally lobotomize me or something.”

 ** _Shit, I’m sorry!_**

“It’s okay, Ryuk… I mean, it’s _not_ but I know you were just trying to help—” 

**_So, uh… talking really helps, huh?_ **

“Yeah. I mean, you know I always talk to you about stuff all the time—” 

**_So, then uh… you know yet what we’re gonna do about L this time around…?_**

Light paused in his tracks and Ryuk was momentarily overwhelmed by the intensity of the devastation and loss coming from his human. He’d always suspected there was more going on between him and the peculiar detective but— 

“…Okay, Ryuk, about those alien drugs—” 

**_Light!_**

***

It truly was beyond bizarre, returning to his family house, to his childhood bedroom and realizing he’d probably be staying here for a while (at least until he graduated) after having his own place and essentially ruling the world from the shadows as both Kira and L. 

And, oh, right… he had cram school tonight. 

Light groaned. 

He hadn’t needed it then, it would be twice as boring doing it over again.

But he supposed he could afford to brush up on a few key concepts. It wouldn’t do to have his grades slip, even a bit, by slacking off. 

As he got ready and out of habit, muscle memory still ingrained in his younger body, Light switched on the TV and immediately regretted it when he saw the face of Kurou Otaharada who seemed perfectly serious about killing his hostages. 

_“…Shit.”_

Light groaned again, despairing. This death, this was what drew L down on his head! 

**_Light… you don’t have to, you know…_**

“But if I do nothing, I’ll be condemning those kids and teachers to die.”

 ** _It’s not your responsibility, you know, Light. If people live or die._**

“Isn’t it, though?” Wasn't he literally _chosen_ to save the world? 

**_...Humans die all the time._**

Light briefly considered it and then felt sick with guilt for doing so. 

He’d done a lot of things in the future he wasn’t proud of in order to cover his tracks.

 _What was it all for then if I can’t…?_

“I can’t do nothing, Ryuk.”

Ryuk manifested as a comforting serpentine weight on his shoulder as he pondered how he might help Light out of this dilemma. 

**“Well, I suppose we could always go in person or something…”**

“What?! Are you mad?!” 

Ryuk chuckled. **“Probably… But, uh... why not? I’m not a Shinigami anymore nor bound by their rules. I’ve been given leave to act as your armor so I won’t get in trouble for attacking humans now if I do it on your behalf so… I could take care of it for you. With my protection he wouldn’t be able to hurt you.”**

“Wha—”

Light watched in shock as shadows congealed around his hands, forming into familiar black talons. 

**“They’d see me, not you. No one would recognize you, and we could stop Otaharada.**

Light chewed his lip as he felt his pulse race at the concept. They could do to Otaharada what Ryuk had done to that other Shinigami… 

_Shit. The Death Note seems more merciful._

**Heh, I mean, we don’t even have to kill him, right? Because that was what L… I mean, if we just beat him up, Mr. Snooty Detective wouldn’t be interested in that, right? If we didn’t kill him? I mean, as far he was concerned we’d just be some cosplay freak, right?”**

As dumb as the idea was and as much as he wanted to dismiss it out of hand… 

It was exciting. 

Both his past and future self had had one thing in common—they’d felt dead inside for years and whoever he was right now… This notion, to administer justice in person… by his own, _their own hands_... 

He couldn’t help but find it thrilling even if it was impractical. 

“We could… maybe, try something like that, later,” Light swallowed and looked down at his desk awkwardly to where he’d had the notebook in front of him the first time around. “Something really needs to be done _now._ Those kids and teachers would be at risk while we experiment.” 

As they were every second he wasted agonizing over this. 

He knew what he had to do but could he really do this again? 

Once he did there would be no more pretending it was just a bad dream anymore. 

He’d be a murderer in this timeline too. 

Did he truly have the strength to do it a second time around? 

But to do nothing—to condemn those kids to die— maybe he would have been able to do it in the future, but now… no, his conscience wouldn’t allow it. 

He had to do this. 

Even though, once he wrote the name, he’d have L riding his ass much sooner than he’d hoped… 

Ryuk snickered at that.

Light flushed, _“Pervert.”_

**_Your thought, Light. Not mine._**

Light simply rolled his eyes and tried not to put too much thought into the fact that with Ryuk in his head, if he had a mind to, he could see everything that had occurred between him and L the last time… 

Well, as much as some not so hidden parts of his psyche _wanted_ to see L again, it would be better for their plans if they could establish things first before having to contend with the detective.

Light chewed the tip of his pencil before stopping himself—he’d thought he’d kicked that habit years ago but apparently, merged with his younger self, the muscle memory was still fresh.

Light heaved a defeated sigh—he knew what he had to do now. 

“Ryuk, give me the Death Note.” 

Ryuk, for lack of a better word, _regurgitated_ the Death Note out of his substance. 

“That is so weird.” 

**_Uh… we have two of them, technically—mine and yours—if you ever have need of them._ **

“Well… uh, that’s good to know.” Light swallowed as he put pencil to paper, “Well… here we go again.” 

_Kurou Otaharada Suicide. Releases the hostages and surrenders to police custody. Commits suicide eight days later._

Concealing Otaharada’s death as a suicide while using heart attacks for all of Kira’s other judgments would either throw L off his scent entirely for a while or put him on his trail even sooner with the additional knowledge that Kira could kill by means other than a heart attack. Especially if Misora…

The F.B.I. agents. He knew their names—he could kill them all right now…

But if L didn’t come after him then they might never be sent, maybe this time he could avoid killing them all together. 

And if he killed them now it would be for no reason as far as the world was concerned and if L did get on his tail again, surely they would just send others… 

No, best to leave it be for now. 

**” Hey, look on the bright side, Light—either way it will be interesting.”**

Light couldn’t help the ghost of a smile at that. Before coming to the past, things hadn’t been really ‘interesting’ in a long while for them—they certainly were now. 

And as self-destructive as the urge was—he really did want to see L again. 

_Will he figure it out? That would be quite impressive—if he figures it out… Misora figured it out last time. Surely L could… Then again it’s a different situation entirely from the bus jacking. There should be no way to connect it to me—_

As his mom called him from down the stairs Ryuk quickly reabsorbed the Death Note into his being again and disappeared beneath Light’s skin as Light began packing up his things—of course he already knew—they had to get ready for cram school.


	4. Boredom

Light tried to pretend to be interested in what the teacher was saying, hyperaware of how Ryuk was settling in beneath his skin. But as time wore on Light allowed himself to indulge in violent and decidedly ungodly fantasies of the sort of amusing deaths he could inflict on the annoying people around him as the teacher droned on and on about stuff that Light already knew about and had already known the first time around too. 

Ryuk did his best to be unobtrusive in the beginning, content to sit in silence and listen to the background churning of Light’s thoughts—and _what thoughts they were._ Ryuk knew Light was a genius but hadn’t fully realized what that meant—he was always thinking, always scheming with plans, counter-plans, ways to get ahead— even if it was just in the background of his conscious thoughts. He was always trying to distract himself with something just to stem the boredom.

It’s no wonder they fit together so well. 

**_Damn, how do you even function? Do you even know how to relax?_**

_Ha ha—you’re a riot, Ryuk, you know that?_

Light gritted his teeth after again suffering when the teacher threw chalk in his face for not appearing properly attentive enough. 

_I’m going to go insane, Ryuk, if I’m not already, if I have to do this for another four years._

**_We don’t have to, you know._**

_What do you mean I don’t have to?! Surely you realize… there’s certain things you have to do, Ryuk. That I have to do. I can’t just disappoint my parents—_

Light sighed as he made an actual effort to look more attentive of the lesson he couldn’t care less about. _So… What happens to us now?_

Light tried again because his attempts to figure out what exactly the Shinigami Realm wanted of him, wanted of _them_ , was a far more interesting endeavor than the math review. 

**_I’m afraid I don’t know much more than you do, Light. They just said I had a chance to save you. They didn’t say how or even what we are supposed to be doing._**

Light suppressed another sigh while the students next to him nattered on about some trash movie and Light thought bitterly on how they never seemed to get chalk thrown at _them._ He supposed it was because he was a genius; because of his grades, but also because of who his father was that he, evidently, was being held to higher standards of morality and behavior… 

Light barely suppressed an audible groan. 

To do this all over again, to have to see these assholes every day, to go through the motions of high school and college all over again— 

**_Light… you’ve ruled the human world from the shadows for six years—_**

_I know. That makes this all the more infuriating!_

**_… And you’ve been L for the past five. I’m pretty sure you could pick that right up again instead of going to college. And would you really be disappointing your parents if you were bringing in the big bucks?_ **

_Hmmm…and as an added bonus it would annoy the hell out of Ryuuzaki too, to have some competition. That IS worth considering… Though it hardly seems fair, considering I remember a lot of future cases—_

Light scowled as the chalk hit his forehead again and he tuned out the teacher’s barked reprimand. 

Ryuk offered up the image of catching any further thrown chalk in their new tendrils of darkness and eating it… along with the teacher. 

Light delicately rubbed his face to conceal his smirk. 

**…And then we’ll eat his apples.** Ryuk suggested, directing Light’s attention to the basket of apples on the teacher’s table.

Light bit the inside of lip to avoid laughing out loud. 

_We can’t do that,_ Light warned. 

**_Yeah… I know. Just thought it would be funny._ **

_Yeah…_ Light thought back wistfully, sharing a few creative murderous fantasies of his own. All of them would have been a sight to see but they both agreed it was not worth it to blow their cover.

Light heaved a sigh. _I should at least graduate high school. And I can’t back out from taking the entrance exams now. But if we get our alternative set up before college starts we might… take a gap year. Probably an indefinite gap year._

***

 ** _Ow… He didn’t have to throw it so damn hard!_**

Ryuk groaned when class had ended and they had once again earned the ire of the teacher for spacing out. 

_You felt that?_ Light thought back, surprised. 

**_I feel what you feel._ **

_You feel… Oh! Because we share a body. Obviously… Wait—does that mean we share, we share a life?_

Ryuk was an immortal god and now he was sharing that with him—Light gasped softly to himself. “You… you’ve made me a God— _Again..._ ”

Ryuk snorted. **_More like you made me mortal. If you die, I die._**

“…Let’s not die then.”

 ** _Yeah… that sounds like a plan… so, uh, does that mean we’re gonna play it safe then? I mean… we’ve only done the one…_**

Light froze, considering. _I can’t NOT use the notebook, Ryuk, if we want to effect change of this magnitude. Even with you with me… I can’t move the world as just Light Yagami. Kira has to exist in some form… But that doesn’t mean we have to do things exactly the same. I promise; we’ll be smarter about this than last time. And well, we have more to work with, don’t we?_

He had Ryuk helping him and bonded to him in a new way—acting as his “armor” and whatever that entailed. 

His knowledge of the future... 

Which, Light realized, included technologies that hadn’t been developed yet in this timeline, some of it he’d developed himself. He knew how to operate as “L,” the ins and outs of L’s whole system, many likely choices for L’s passwords, and the backdoors into Watari’s system. He knew the names and faces of everyone on the taskforce in the original timeline, and what his future enemies, L’s successors, likely looked like… 

He knew L’s real name— 

No, he was getting way ahead of himself. 

What _was_ he going to do about L? 

He probably should take care of him before he came after him again. 

_Then again... IF ONLY…_

It was a foolish hope that he dared not fully give voice to even in the back of his mind. 

But in any case, he had L’s name, he could afford to put off making a decision for now. 

“Okay so, first order of business—we need to look at everything we know about the future. Everything I know, everything you know and work out our plan from there—” 

**_But, uh, aren’t we changing things just by being here and knowing things?_**

“Yes, things _will_ change if we’re doing it right but even if the info becomes uh, outdated it can still help inform us on what to do in _this_ timeline. Ryuk, do you know what caused the End? The… War?”

Light asked as they sifted through their shared pool of knowledge. 

**_Yeah. There was a war, I guess, with humans lobbing their worst weapons at each other. And… I guess there weren’t many humans left after that._**

“So it _was_ a war—do you know what caused it?” 

**_Uh… damn, Light—I wasn’t really paying attention to the human world at all at that time but… I guess things had been pretty crazy down there for some time beforehand, you know?_**

“Crazy how?” Light asked, a sinking feeling in his gut. 

**_Like… there were already a lot of deaths going on down there not caused by any of us. Like giant storms, whole cities submerged under water in some places. Droughts in others. There were like whole countries stealing all the water from other countries. Ya know, fun stuff like that. Oh, and Justin said something about the humans’ food supply failing. I guess that’s when it started to cause problems for us because there were less humans to feed on but nowhere near the state it was after the nukes went off—_**

Light paused in his steps. _“Nukes?!”_

How the hell was he supposed to stop something like that?

Further conversation was halted when Light turned a corner and suddenly became aware of the rumbling sound of motorcycles from down the street. 

_...shit! I forgot Takuo Shibumaru._

**_Well, you could just write his name down again, right? I mean, how did you kill him last time?_**

Light felt a chill upon drawing on their shared pool of knowledge. _I… I got lucky last time._

If he did what he did last time and just wrote down every permutation of the name he could think of there could be consequences—consequences he wasn’t aware of the last time and new consequences due to their changed circumstances. There were different rules for knowingly misspelling a name and unknowingly misspelling a name. 

Writing multiple misspellings risked his, no, _their_ lives as well as the effectiveness of their Death Note if he screwed it up. Of course that wouldn’t have been an issue with Ryuk’s eye if not for the fact that at present they couldn’t see Takuo’s face—all the bikers’ faces were yet concealed by their helmets, shades, or goggles. 

Light also kind of hated that he was already falling into doing the same things as last time even if there was some slight variation. 

(He hadn’t _meant_ to become a killer again, just like his older self, and yet here he was...) 

He supposed he could just look away as everyone else on the damn street was doing…

But he wasn’t everyone else. 

And he still felt the social obligation to combat the evil that was happening right before his eyes even if, technically, these crimes hadn’t been worthy of the death penalty. 

**_You CAN do something, ya know. If you want. I mean, I’ve seen you talk your way out of worse shit than this._**

Light was conflicted. He didn’t like what was happening, what was going to happen, up the street but he didn’t want to get them killed over it either. 

**_They can’t hurt you, you know._ ** Ryuk reminded him. **_“Not with me here to protect you._**

Light swallowed, and he truly hoped Ryuk could back up his words. 

(But even if he did get hurt… was it not his penance for what he did, would do, _must_ do?) 

Light sneered at the gang and the others on the street, doing nothing… 

He wasn’t like them. 

He could never be like them. He wouldn’t let himself look away. 

(Because he was a monster. No, he was a God. Ryuk had made it so…) 

So exuding confidence he didn’t necessarily feel at the moment and utilizing the acting and social engineering abilities he’d become exceptionally skilled at after pretending to hunt himself for five years in the future, Light seamlessly inserted himself into the situation. 

“Hey, _nee-san!_ You know you shouldn’t be out this late. Mom said dad’s about to drag you home in a squad car. I think they were serious this time.” 

Light flashed a charming smile and casually strolled up to the terrified girl, deliberately ignoring the circling biker gang. 

He pretended to just see the biker gang (and felt a rush he hadn’t felt in years) as he stepped between them and the girl, making it look like natural. As just a brother looking out for his sister—not a threat. (Not _yet_.) 

He probably wouldn’t even register as a threat to them. 

He might not be, without the notebook… 

If Ryuk was wrong… this could get them killed. 

But at least this wasn’t _boring._

“Who’s this?” He asked the confused and terrified girl and hoped she’d catch on. 

Upon only seeing terror and confusion in her eyes, Light found he almost wished she was Misa at the moment. 

_Almost._

But for all her faults, Misa had learned to work seamlessly with his plans. 

The girl didn’t respond, terror seemed to have stolen her tongue. 

Well, he could work with that. 

“Friends of yours?” He asked, not really expecting an answer. 

The girl squeezed her eyes shut and shook her head. Light deliberately ignored her. 

He turned to the biker gang then (who all seemed frozen, befuddled by his audacity) and very seriously informed them, “I’m sorry, my sister has homework and shouldn’t be out this late.” 

“Who the hell are you?” Takuo demanded, trying to regain control of the situation as some of the gangsters shook their metal pipes and improvised weapons menacingly. 

Light ignored the implicit threat and smiled genially again. “Ryuuzaki Kitamura, son of Director Kitamura of the National Police Agency. And you are…?” 

“A police brat, huh—” 

“…Come on Takuo, It’s not worth it.” 

_Ha, cowards! What a shame. They aren’t even worthy opponents…_

At first it looked like he’d dissuaded them entirely. So he might have let them live this time around except that, apparently, Takuo was too dumb to let it go. 

Ryuk took control of Light’s arm, catching Takuo’s fist as it swung—and squeezed. Takuo slid off his bike then, crying in agony as the bones in his captured fist cracked. 

The other bikers backed off then, clearly intimidated by his show of force, that he had brought their leader to his knees, and also displaying no loyalty whatsoever towards said leader. 

It was _pathetic._

“You’re going to leave my sister alone now, aren’t you?” Light asked with deliberate nonchalance. 

_“Look out!”_ The girl shrieked, finally finding her voice as Takuo tried to break free—procuring a knife from somewhere on his person—but in a flick of liquid darkness, Ryuk had him disarmed. 

**_“Aren’t you,”_** he, no _they_ , asked again, eyes flashing crimson red, and his charming grin momentarily morphed into Ryuk’s fangs. They squeezed harder and Takuo screamed as they shattered the bones in his hand. 

And just as they had planned Ryuk’s tendrils shot off and ripped their helmets off. (He could have just ripped their heads off but they both agreed that would be too messy. It was best to avoid killing people while they were present if they could help it.) 

The bikers began to flee in earnest then but that was alright—Light had already committed each of their names to memory. 

It wouldn’t do to be identified later. 

“Hey… Uh, you okay?” He asked the girl then. 

It was the appropriate response and… he hadn’t really forgotten her, of course. Not really. The innocent, the victim, the whole reason he’d had to punish Takuo and the others in the first place. It’s just the menacing biker gang had taken up much of his attention… 

The girl; or Azumi Fujiwara as proclaimed by the red letters floating above her head was gaping at him and… shit, he’d done some freaky things in front of her, hadn’t he? 

**_Light, I uh… I hate to bring this up but seeing as I’m supposed to protect you, ya know she could identify you too, right?_**

_Yeah, but that would defeat the whole purpose of saving her, wouldn’t it?_

Ryuk, mercifully, fell silent as Light silently agonized over the fact. 

Azumi Fujiwara—her name… Light hadn’t meant to know that. 

Well, she didn’t know _his_ name and… he would just pretend he hadn’t seen her name. Surely she wasn’t a threat… (and just hope that she would give him the same courtesy and pretend she hadn’t seen him…) 

Light gave a start when Azumi—( _the girl_ , her name is unimportant, she is just _the girl_ ) suddenly clung to him and cried. 

_“H-Hey…”_

_Well, this is awkward._

Light stood frozen, the terrified girl was sobbing into his shoulder and… Light somehow hadn’t expected that. 

_Why didn’t she just take the opportunity to run away like last time?_

**_Seriously? Do you really need ME to explain human behavior?_ **

_Of course not, Ryuk. Surely you remember my work as a criminal profiler._

Ryuk snickered at that. 

_It’s just… unexpected. That’s all._

“Hey, uh… Let’s get out of here, okay? I can walk you to the station?” Light suggested if only to get them moving and away from this place, only to find her staring up at him now with moon eyes. 

_Dammit, what have I done?_

**_…Not every girl is Misa, Light._ **

_God, I hope you’re right. Though while we’re thinking of it, I guess we should consider what to do about Misa too,_ he thought dismally as he walked Azumi (the girl, she’s just some girl, no one of consequence) to the station and bid her farewell. 

Then he noticed the time. 

“Oh shit, I’m going to be late.” Light groaned. He hated that he’d have to start lying to his family again so soon… 

**_Lucky ya got me._**

_What do you mean by that, Ryuk?_

Ryuk chuckled in the back of his head. **_Didn’t you once say you’d always wanted wings?_**

Light grinned in earnest then as he found them a dark alley away from prying eyes to lift off from. 

He could barely contain his cry of exhilaration as they soared into the night sky. 


End file.
